Raw food recipes for beginners

Raw food recipes for beginners are my specialty. I call them my simple, satisfying raw food recipes, which are perfect for beginners. But many people who love my recipes are not raw food beginners; they are simply busy people on the go who don't want to bother with too much fuss - just like me. Because of this, some avid rawfooders like to share my simple raw recipes with raw food beginners because my recipes are simple and taste great! But enough tooting my own horn, huh?

Eating raw has become increasingly popular as more people realize the many benefits associated with consuming whole foods in their raw state; but starting out can be daunting! Many recipes call for mysterious ingredients (think nutritional yeast, agave nectar, chia seeds, and on and on!) that most raw food beginners don't have in their pantries. While recipes that include such ingredients are great and I too use them, they are probably not where you want to start if you are searching for raw food recipes as a beginner.

Add more fruits and vegetables to your routine: Useful, but boring

If you are a real raw beginner who is just starting to dabble in raw recipes, think about how you can start adding more raw foods to your regular meals.

Salad is probably one of the easiest items to add, because it’s perfect as a side dish or as a full meal.

Start by adding a small salad to your lunch and dinner. And when it comes to salads please remember, people! The best salads only have a FEW ingredients! So don't put the kitchen sink in there - just be simple, like spinach, tomato and fresh basil, for example.

Similarly, breakfast can be a great opportunity to get some fresh fruit - whether it’s a smoothie or simply crunching down on an apple and some nuts.

For snacks, replace your granola bar or cookies with an orange or a banana. If you’re worried that these might not hold you over until dinner, then add some raw nuts and seeds. The complete proteins in the nuts will bind with the incomplete proteins in the fruit providing you with more protein, which will help you to feel full longer.

However, at this point you'll probably be lacking inspiration - and the only "raw" foods you'll be able to think of will be salads and raw apples. BORING!

Well then friend, you are now ready to try some raw food recipes for beginners.

Raw food recipes for beginners

So, where do you start? First, weed out those recipes that require crazy soaking times or dehydrators. If you are a beginner chances are you might have a crappy blender and a food processor - if you're lucky. So don't make anything too crazy. Start slow, yah?

Creating raw food recipes for beginners is where it gets fun. Why is it fun? Because you get to combine healthy ingredients, like dates, pecans, coconut and cocoa powder and make something amazing! Your friends will be impressed when they taste it and you explain that all that's in your raw recipe is whole, uncooked ingredients - no flour, refined sugar or dairy.

Here are some perfect recipes for raw beginners that are sure to turn out great:

Final tips for beginners

Here are a few more effective ways to keep raw cuisine simple when you're just getting started.

Make sure your cupboard is stocked with your staple ingredients. This way you won’t discover halfway through a raw recipe that you don’t have everything you need.

Make a list of the ingredients you use most often. Some of these might include: flax seeds, chia seeds, nutritional yeast, tamari (aka soy sauce), spices, dates (great base for desserts), nuts, seeds etc.

Also, be sure to always have spinach or lettuce on hand- you can never go wrong with a hearty salad for dinner when you don’t have time to prepare something. And salads can be very exciting too; add hemp hearts, tomatoes, raisins, coconut, cucumber, red pepper, and don’t forget some nutritional yeast- it’ll give it a great cheesy flavour!

Last, but by no means least, make sure to read the recipe from top to bottom before starting! You will find that many raw food recipes call for long soaking times, dehydration times, or day-before prep. Be aware of any extra prep work and make sure you have everything you need. Discovering that the almonds you need must be soaked over-night will likely mean you’re not eating that lovely concoction that you had planned!

These are just a few tips to help you master the art of making raw food recipes for beginners. Above all, remember to keep it simple!

I have a 19 month old daughter who has primarily been eating smoothies as her main 3 meals a day since she turned one and my milk dried up due to being pregnant again. Now that I have my second child I have, for the last 2 1/2 months been pumping and adding to the smoothie breastmilk. Before that I made almond milk and also added banana and kale with a variety of other things depending on what I had on hand whether it be flax seed, flax seed oil, chia seed. And I just started adding hemp seed but it doesn't seem to sit well with the digestive track. Also, I give her any other fruit that she likes such as grapes, strawberries, pineapple, watermelon, banana, pomegranate, raisens. But besides that and some natures path Cheerios organic or Ezekiel bread with almond butter (which she's picky about now), she really doesn't eat much else. I would love some suggestion on raw food for her? Ps. I have been feeding her the smoothies myself which I want to stop doing as I want her to be more independent.

All

I am living in my camper for the summer and I don't have a stove so I thought this would be a great time to try raw foods! However I have nut allergies :( I see most meal type recipes have nuts in them..... is there an alternative I could use?

I have just started reading Joanna Blythman's latest book 'Swallow This' - all about what manufacturers do to our food - not the highly processed ready meals, but just ordinary everyday foods like cooking oils and yoghurt. I've only just started reading, but already the imperative to add more and more raw food to my diet is becoming quite strong. I think your recipes look really good although personally I find dates tend to spike my blood sugar and make me very sleepy for a while. I keep them for an evening treat so i can go to bed and 'sleep them off'!

Heya just
stumbled upon your blkog via Yahoo
after I entered in, "Raw food recipes for beginners " or something similar (can't
quite remember exactly). In any case, I'm pleased I found it simply because your subject
material is exactly what I'm searching forr (writing a university paper)
and I hope you don't mind iff I collect some material from
here and
I will of course credit you as the source. Many thanks.

I am very new to the idea of raw food eating. I know that some have gained weight doing raw food eating. I am very afraid of that. Can you do like the green smoothie for breakfast and lunch on a regular bases with a salad or one of your recipes for dinner, while learning to do this? I am very much about quick and simple.

Ok..Im starting to get cold feet about going completely raw....im bought your 41 dollar series I havent recieved it yet..I plan on holding onto it for dsar life because I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE your recipes ..However I have heard of people going raw loosing too much weiight and getting sick...Is that because they werent incorporating enough food into their diet? or eating too much of one thing? My goal is to have a healthier lifestyle...You look completely healthy!! So im taking it your meal plans include all the necessary nutritional needs our bodies need daily! I And then I did my own shopping today to do some of your recipes....YUM..But would you say realistic ally is more expensive to go raw? Should I get a third job? LoL

Hi! I know we've been emailing, but I wanted to say... yes... it is more expensive to eat raw... But there are some good sides to it : I make some tips in this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N63ELH1y1GM
Don't get cold feet - just take it one meal at a time :)
Plus, in terms of health it depends on where you are coming from and what your diet is like now. For me it is all about "relativity" - meaning, it's all relative. and depends what you are comparing it to. We can't all be expected to subscribe to the same diet because we all come from a different place.

I have a 19 month old daughter who has primarily been eating smoothies as her main 3 meals a day since she turned one and my milk dried up due to being pregnant again. Now that I have my second child I have, for the last 2 1/2 months been pumping and adding to the smoothie breastmilk. Before that I made almond milk and also added banana and kale with a variety of other things depending on what I had on hand whether it be flax seed, flax seed oil, chia seed. And I just started adding hemp seed but it doesn't seem to sit well with the digestive track. Also, I give her any other fruit that she likes such as grapes, strawberries, pineapple, watermelon, banana, pomegranate, raisens. But besides that and some natures path Cheerios organic or Ezekiel bread with almond butter (which she's picky about now), she really doesn't eat much else. I would love some suggestion on raw food for her? Ps. I have been feeding her the smoothies myself which I want to stop doing as I want her to be more independent.

Hi Michelle, you will also want to make sure she is getting enough protein. Breastmilk is great to add! You can definitely get plant-based sources that you can add to smoothies as well, like chia seeds, and even better than chia, hempseed hearts cause they are delicious and have way more protein than chia seeds even. But I hear you that they are not digesting well, but that is a very good option. Also, almonds are high in protein too so that's good. More info here. http://www.therawtarian.com/rfp13-vegan-protein Also, definitely check out "Evie's Kitchen" and "Shazzie" - best resources for raw vegan child-raising. Hope this helps!

Wonderful, thank you for the advice. Again, she does not take to the hemp seeds well and neither have I. Maybe it's the amount I've been having or the brand? Do you recommend a specific brand? I've been using the Nutiva brand. Even with just one serving 3 tablespoons of hemp seed in a smoothie, I get digestive issues. Do you know if this is common with some people? Chia seeds have always been good for both me and my daughter along with flax seeds. Almonds have also been great. I will check out those other resources for recipe and ideas. Thanks again!

My pleasure! Not sure what brand of hem hearts I get. (I don't have any on hand at the moment.) Haven't heard of many people reacting badly to them, but if they're not working for you then stay away. Body knows best :)

Hi Laura Jane - so glad to "meet" another person from Canada! I listened to your podcast where you talk about finding your "buddies"..I totally agree about certain fruits being cheaper throughout the year, and this is great advice. I live in Ontario and am slowly trying to incorporate more raw goodness into my diet. Many of the raw food blogs I have read are from people who live in warmer climates (Arizona, California) so it's nice to find someone who is raw in the same country as I am...I can relate more to you. Great website/blog.... so much good info to read! Thanks.

I haven't really looked too hard for them yet, but I plan to. There is a asian/caribbean type grocer in my neighbourhood and I plan on going there next week to see if they carry them...I've never been to it, so it should be an adventure. I'll let you know if I find any good stuff :)

I went to the grocery store and found the coconuts! It was $2.97, so I don't know if that's a good price or not....? Unfortunately, I didn't find kelp noodles, which I was looking for...where did you say you found yours?
Now if I can just figure out how to open this coconut....;)

This information is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. I encourage you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with like-minded, qualified health care professional(s). I wish you success on your raw journey!

You currently do not have Javascript enabled! This site will not function correctly unless Javascript is enabled.